At FACCES, the Urban Garden is more than a place where food grows; it’s where community takes root.
What started as a space for planting and learning has blossomed into something much bigger: a hub where families gather, youth discover new passions, and community connections are strengthened every day. The impact of the Urban Garden could be felt clearly at the recent Growing to Growth Collective CommuniTea, where families came together to celebrate not just what’s being grown but who is growing alongside it.
Through the Urban Garden, opportunities like the Urban Garden Gathering have flourished. Now held twice a month on the first and third Thursdays, these gatherings invite families of all experience levels to step in, get their hands in the soil, and learn together. Whether someone is brand new to gardening or bringing years of knowledge, each session offers something fresh, creating space for curiosity, confidence, and connection to grow.
But the garden’s reach doesn’t stop there.
To keep that learning going beyond the gatherings, families can now access a growing library of educational gardening videos. These resources make it easier to explore new techniques, learn about different crops, and build skills at home, turning everyday moments into opportunities for growth and discovery.
The Urban Garden is also helping shape the next generation. Through after-school internships, middle and high school students are gaining hands-on experience in gardening, cooking, and marketing. They’re actively expanding the garden, growing crops organically, creating recipes for a community cookbook, and documenting their work along the way. What they’re building isn’t just knowledge, it’s confidence, leadership, and a deeper connection to their community.
And as the seasons change, so do the possibilities.
This spring, the Urban Garden will continue to inspire new experiences, and we invite you to take part! Through seasonal cooking classes, featuring ingredients grown right on campus, including fresh fish from aquaponics systems. These classes offer families a chance to come together, learn practical skills, and see firsthand how the food they grow can become something nourishing and meaningful.
At its core, the FACCES Urban Garden belongs to the community. Every event, every gathering, and every opportunity that grows from it is shaped by you and other families who show up, participate, and make it their own!
Because here, it’s about more than what’s planted in the ground; it’s about what’s growing in people.
